Weblogs

Padres beating up Rangers

Seems like every time the Padres come to Surprise Stadium, their offense explodes, and today was no different. Tony Clark, batting right-handed against a Rangers Triple-A pitcher, A.J. Murray, blasted a 430-foot home run in the first inning for a 2-0 lead. The Padres scored twice more in the second, third and fifth, making it 8-1. Chase Headley and Paul McAnulty, who are the lead subject of my Padres report for Sunday's newspaper, each drilled an extra-base hit.If you're a fantasy league player looking for a bounceback/buy-low candidate, you might want to grab Michael Barrett. He's obviously a lot more comfortable than he was last year. He's spraying line drives, fighting off difficult pitches, drawing walks. It'd be surprising if Barrett didn't hit more in line with his career norms this year, though Petco might dampen his home run power more than Wrigley Field did. One other thing about Barrett. His teammates value him for more than his bat. Barrrett, who is former high school shortstop, may not be Johnny Bench behind the plate. But Greg Maddux talks very highly of him as a teammate. Maddux did so again today, saying Barrett is all about winning. It wasn't all fun and games for the Padres today. Triple-A right-fielder Vince Sinisi suffered a fractured right wrist after banging into center fielder Drew Macias in right-center.